The Price to Pay
by snarkysweetness
Summary: All magic comes with a price and August is forced to pay a hefty price in order to live long enough to help his Princess break the curse.


**Title: **The Price to Pay  
**Author:** snarkysweetness  
**Rating: **PG  
**Characters:** August, Neal, & Tamara; hints of future Emma/August, past Emma/Neal, & Neal/Tamara  
**Summary:** All magic comes with a price and August is forced to pay a hefty price in order to live long enough to help his Princess break the curse.  
**Warnings: **Angst and spoilers for 'Selfless, Brave, & True'.  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing.  
**Author's Notes:** I had a lot of August feels after the promo stills and press release came out so I wrote an August character piece because my poor, tortured baby needed it.

He glanced down at the small package in his hand. Twenty grand, enough for a new life, but he'd always kept it close, waiting for the day when he could give it to the person it really belonged to. He should have probably put it into a bank, where she could access it someday, but he'd done his best not to leave a paper trail in this world. Someday, he'd find her again, and they'd break the curse and go home. Or break the curse and be back with their families. He hated that she'd been stuck in that prison, alone, with nowhere to go when she got out and no money, but he knew if he gave her the money, she would blow it all.

Or…

Neal was his friend but he didn't trust him not to run off with Emma if she came looking for him complete with a big pile of cash. Emma needed to find her way to Storybrooke and break the curse, not get lost in a life of crime with Rumpelstiltskin's son, the same son who would do anything to run from his father, including making sure the curse never got broken.

Friends or not, August recognized a fellow runner when he saw one. Even Neal himself had admitted he would never risk his father finding him, even if it meant letting the curse go on and…

August needed to make sure Emma found her way home and in turn, that he found his father again.

He'd stayed away not out of shame, though, he did loathe himself for what he'd done to Emma; leaving her as a child when he couldn't handle the responsibility, waiting until she was out of the system to find her, even if he couldn't access her files before then, not being able to find her in time, and for leaving her in prison. He'd spent years hiding his pain in booze and women over his guilt but none of that kept him away, he would have gladly found her, told her everything, and stayed with her until the bitter end, but it wasn't what was best for her.

His life hadn't been easy; it had taken him years to figure out that in this world, talking about magic made you seem crazy. He'd even landed himself in the mental asylum once after too many drinks and running his mouth about it. He didn't want that for Emma. She needed to live a normal, happy life.

He'd loved her his entire life and he wanted her to not spend her years bogged down with the weight of her responsibilities and her fate. She'd never had a choice in any of this and he didn't want her to have to deal with what he dealt with every day; the abandonment issues toppled with knowing your parents had no choice in the matter, feeling half-insane about your fuzzy memories of your childhood, knowing the lives of everyone in your land were in your hands, and the pressure to break the curse right now, before it was time.

His plan had always been to find here when it was time and hope that she believed him. He'd considered telling her everything when he finally tracked her down in Portland but…

Emma was impulsive; she would have run straight to Storybrooke and…

Well, he wasn't sure what would have happened.

He'd even gone on a few occasions, but to no avail. He had no clue how to break the curse, not without her, but at least he'd found it. It had taken him years, but he knew where to go, when the time was right. He even had a plan on how to break the curse, thanks to Neal.

"_How do you plan to break the curse without Emma?"_

"_I don't know, Neal!" August ran his hands over his face and did his best to keep his voice down. Tamara was no help and alerting her to his presence would only get him thrown out. She loathed anything to do with magic. Unlike his mother, who believed magic was best left in the hands of those who could use it properly, good old Tamara, a.k.a. Tinkerbelle, felt it best to do away with it completely. _

_They did their best to keep any magic talk away from her. _

_Neal let out a long sigh before passing over the bottle of Jack. _

"_Look, I might have a way for you to break the curse. But…it's risky and…August, the prophecy said it had to be her, why don't you just…"_

_August shot Neal a glare. He knew why. Emma should have to shoulder that responsibility. All magic came with a price and August was sure breaking the curse would involve her paying a big one. He'd failed her enough in her life, if he could find a way to save her from her fate, he'd do it._

"_All right, fine…"_

That was the night Neal told him all about the dagger and how it could control the Dark One a.k.a. Neal's 'Papa'. If August could find it and control Rumpelstiltskin, he could force him to break the curse. It wouldn't be easy, but he had enough information to give a shot but then…

"_This is stupid, man, just…" Neal shoved his hands in his pockets as August mounted his bike._

"_What? Stay here? Let her do it on her own? I need to stop what's happening to me and break the curse. I need to make sure I love long enough to get that far."_

_Neal opened his mouth to protest but another voice cut in._

"_You deserve your fate; just leave us out of it."_

_August refrained from rolling his eyes. While she made Neal happy, August knew he could do better. _

"_I'll send you that postcard." August promised as he shared a guilty look with his old friend. He knew Neal would never go after Emma again, but he could never accuse August of breaking his promise._

He knew if his transformation kept going, he'd die. He would be no good to Emma dead. He'd tried Tamara but…

Well, she wasn't any help, so here he was, back in Phuket, seeking out a medicine man. He'd been warned, this wouldn't be temporary, it would only slow down his transformation. Eventually, he would be forced to face his fate. It didn't matter to him, as long as he helped Emma in time, which was all that mattered. She'd be back with her parents and his father would be free of the curse.

A pang of guilt shot through his as he acknowledged his father would never have him back, but perhaps he'd find a way to be happy.

The only problem…

There was a matter of payment. He clutched the money in his hand, the money that had been meant for Emma, and began to have second thoughts. Maybe he could work fast…he didn't have to resort to this…

He winced as a sharp pain moved through his leg. He pulled his pant leg up to find that not only was his foot wooden, but now his ankle. It'd been three days…he'd woken up to find half of his foot in a wooden state before rushing to New York for help. If it kept on this way…

Reluctantly and with a shaking hand he handed the money over in exchange for a small potion that would slow down his transformation. All magic came with a price, after all, and in this case it was cash. What was one more sin on the list of the many things he'd done to ruin her life? At least he could do his best to reunite her with her family.


End file.
